Toronto Life articles from June 2004

Toronto Life archives from June 2004

Justice?(This City)
June 1, 2004... Four years and four months after the brutal murder of five-year-old Farah Khan, her father, Muhammad Arsal Khan, and stepmother, Kaneez Fatima, were finally convicted. The punishment was appropriately harsh--both were handed life sentences--and...

The inquirer.(Profile)
June 1, 2004... It's 7:15 a.m., and Anna Maria Tremonti is prepping for her CBC morning radio show, The Current. The 46-year-old journalist is remarkably alert. Sequestered in her cluttered office, which overlooks a cubicle-filled production room, she touches...

Fashion crimes.(Telling Tales)
June 1, 2004... Much of the talk at this year's fashion week centred on how to draw trend watchers to Toronto runways. Enter Phillip Bloch, stylist to the stars, famous for dressing everyone from Nicole Kidman to Kim Cattrall, and for choosing the burgundy...

Present tense.(Telling Tales)
June 1, 2004... In honour of its departing publisher, John Honderich, the Toronto Star threw a farewell party at the Distillery District in April. In preparation for the event, Star staff and friends received invitations in the shape of blue bow...

Hair splitting.(Telling Tales)
June 1, 2004... A year and a half after opening his flagship salon on Avenue Road, Jie Matar, the self-anointed God of Hair, appears to be dismantling his coiffure empire. Although still advertised on his Web site, the satellite salon in New York's Chelsea...

Graham trackers.(Telling Tales)
June 1, 2004... Heather Graham sightings were on the rise this spring as the actress was in town preparing for a new project. Graham was first spotted at the Sutton Place Hotel, then hanging out in the lounge at the Drake (which she later checked into for a...

Star power.(Telling Tales)
June 1, 2004... While in town shooting Ron Howard's boxing biopic: Cinderella Man, gladiator turned pugilist Russell Crowe had his 40th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, well-wishers gathered for a private party at Bymark. Absent were Crowe's wile of one...

Urban Decoder.
June 1, 2004... Dear Urban Decoder: At the bottom of the Lake Shore exit off the Gardiner is a large, dramatically lit statue with a proud lion at its base. What does it commemorate? Mary Luz Mejia High Park The obelisk to which you refer is...

Cold blood.(Inside)
June 1, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: The heart of our health-care system is in a six-floor red-brick building at College and Bay, just off Hospital Row. This is the Canadian Blood Services central bank, where more than 150,000 donor deposits...

Tours de farce.(Reality Check)
June 1, 2004... With a covetous eye on the Big Apple's iconic I * NY logo, Toronto is presently at work on a new branding strategy. Apparently this is no easy task. Marketing Einsteins have been given a whole year to come up with a catchy tag line that...

Funny money.(Camera)
June 1, 2004... The bar was dreadfully quiet (alas, it was a school night), but the action onstage at Buddies in Bad Times' "We're Funny That Way" comedy lest was predictably perverse. Joke subject matter ran from the usual penis-length variety to the Pope,...

This issue.
June 1, 2004... A FEW YEARS AGO, I WAS ASKED TO SPEAK AT THE ANNUAL meeting of the United Way of Greater Toronto. My subject was (no surprise) Toronto, which, through the alchemy of amalgamation, was soon to become a mega-city. It was also--although hardly...

Party platform.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... I've just read Mireille Silcoff's piece about Corey Mandell ["Bar Mitzvah King," April], and I feel her pain. In recent years, I have attended several bar/bat mitzvahs that have included blinding lights, brutally loud music, dancing girls...

Walking papers.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... David Macfarlane's memoir ["Boy Meets Globe," April] took me back about 35 years to when I was 12 and delivered for The Toronto Telegram. My route began after school--I delivered an afternoon paper--and during the winter months, it was pretty...

Knit picking.(Letters)
June 1, 2004... In your article on the Downtown Knit Collective [Rituals, "Needle Junkies," April], your author played up every single stereotype of' knitters. We were made to seem like giddy old women let out of the house once a month to wallow in needles and...

Oops.(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2004... The photograph of Sheila McCarthy and Peter Donaldson (Profile, May) was in correctly credited. The photographer was Dan Cremin. Toronto Life regrets the error.

Theatre.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... OPENINGS Duse. History isn't kind to stage actors--once their audience disappears, so too does their reputation. The Italian actress Eleonora Duse pioneered method acting in the late 1800s. In her time, she was one of the most famous women...

Ahead by a century.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... A fan tribute site unintentionally damns Jennifer Dale's career with faint praise: "She is one of Canada's most popular actors. Her American equivalent would be Lindsay (The Bionic Woman) Wagner or Stefanie (Hart to Hart) Powers." While Dale...

Punk'D.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... Since the Sex Pistols and the Clash sparked a musical revolution In 1976, punk has been cleansed time and again for the masses. Current standard-bearers Blink-182 are as gleefully obnoxious as frat boys on spring break, combining punchy pop...

Classical music.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... ORCHESTRAL TORONTO SYMPHONY Roy Thomson Hall 60 Simcoe St., 416-593-4828 www.tso.on.ca Beethoven's Ninth. This monumental work is a hymn to the Enlightenment virtues of universal human rights and equality before God. While...

Dance.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... Arabesque Hafla. Artistic director Yasmina Ramzy has designed this hafla (Arabic for "party") to give the experience of an Arabic nightclub. While Ramzy and the other dancers perform, audience members can get a henna tattoo, smoke the nargila...

Burnt offering.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... London, October 16, 1834: J.M.W. Turner grabbed several sketchbooks and his watercolours and raced out into the dusk--Parliament was burning. He pushed his way past forongs of onlookers along the shore of the Thames and set to work. Sparks...

Art.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... FREE David Drebin. A young woman flies out the door to a party. Another slinks home dishevelled from a night of clubbing that didn't quite pan out. Anticipation and the ennui that accompanies deflated expectations are the themes of seductive...

Mind reader.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... If you believe authors write what they know, you might read Patrick McGrath's psychological novels with a certain unease. It's true that the English writer spent much of his formative years in psychiatric wards--but not as a patient. As a boy,...

Nightlife.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... CONCERTS Britney Spears. She moans, she pseudo-fornicates with various members of her extended troupe of sycophantic dancers. And critics still evince surprise that she puts so little effort into her singing. Sheesh. Is singing, like, what...

Jazz and standards.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... DOWNTOWN JAZZ FESTIVAL Since TD Canada Trust announced its sponsorship of the Toronto festival, it already looks different: bigger, richer and with a new emphasis on acts that appeal to a large, pop-oriented audience. While two major...

Kids' events.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... The Battle of Black Creek. The Pioneer Village is under siege by re-enactors who've set up camp among the settlers to recreate a battle from the War of 1812. Visitors can dodge Yankee troops while touring the authentic encampments or witness...

Diversions.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... Barbados on the Water. Soca stars Krosfyah, the dance troupe Dancin' Africa and Giller Award-winning author Austin Clarke perform at the country's largest celebration of Barbadian culture. Crafts, kids' stuff and traditional Bajan foods round...

Same time next week.(This Month)
June 1, 2004... Escola de Samba de Toronto rehearsal and lessons: Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W., 416-588-0307 When: Otherwise languid Sunday afternoons get an infusion of southern sizzle as this 35-piece percussion band mixes business with pleasure. ...

Under the gun: attacking the issue of guns and gangs, a rookie city councillor from Scarborough took on David Miller in a nervy game of political chicken. The surprising thing: Michael Thompson's still standing.(Politics)
June 1, 2004... MICHAEL THOMPSON OFTEN TELLS of an encounter he had at a town hall meeting earlier this year, when a woman came up to him holding two photos. The first showed her son in his hockey uniform; for a moment, Thompson, a Scarborough councillor,...

The tax man: Margaret Atwood, Peter Ozowski, Richard Bradshaw--for 40 years Arthur Gelgoot filed the returns of the city's cultural giants. More than just an accountant, he was also a gossip, a critic, a drinking buddy and, most important, a friend.(In Memoriam)
June 1, 2004... DAMP, CHILLY, SULLEN. WINDY, SLIPPERY, cold. As if Toronto in April weren't enough of a misery, there are also taxes. Still, there used to be something going for this grim hindquarter of winter despite the sleet, despite the unpaid income tax...

The $195-million scribble: and other tales of seduction from our romance with celebrity architects.
June 1, 2004... THE GALLERY SHOP AT THE AGO offers the usual evidence for the proposition that museums exist mainly as annexes to the merchandise out front, a sort of garage of theoretical originals for the reproductions on sale in every size and price range....

Do not pass GO.(Rituals)
June 1, 2004... Each morning unfolds almost exactly as it did the day before. At 7:19 a.m., you back your car into a space near the exit gate (the spots closer to the station were gone half an hour ago) and walk briskly through the underground tunnel. By 7:23,...

Under the influence: what possessed Belinda Stronach--high-powered exec, millionaire, soccer mom, glamourpuss--to campaign for the Conservative leadership? Hubris? Altruism? An overbearing father? Inside one of the most bewildering political bids in recent history.
June 1, 2004... IN AURORA'S Royal Canadian Legion Hall, the buzz was palpable--a mix of genuine wonder and jaded disbelief. Assorted stars of the Ottawa press corps had flown in to mingle with a crush of locals, summoned by pre-recorded phone calls, and to...

Hot to trot.(Icons)
June 1, 2004... The first thing you should know about Fantasy Farm--the kitschy-looking mini-theme park you've passed a thousand times driving up the DVP--is that there is no farm. Just fantasy. The sprawling property does boast a renovated 19th-century barn...

Being there.
June 1, 2004... In and around Normandy on June 6, 1944, there were scenes of salvation and horror: freed Jews travelling like wraiths through the streets of liberated cities ambulances unloading lines of wounded in a farmer's field, the overpowering strench of...

Green peace.(Face time and eye candy)
June 1, 2004... The late Italian carmaker Ettore Bugatti had a habit of declaring "Nothing is too beautiful, nothing is too expensive." Evidently, designer Jacques Durand, the creator of Bugatti's new gentlemen's eyewear collection, follows the same maxim....

Kiss and makeup.(Face time and eye candy)
June 1, 2004... This beaming cosmetics boutique, with its pleather banquette, curry red walls and excitable fresh-faced clientele, could pass for a well-lit martini boite. Red Earth, the pulsing Hong Kong-based outlet, tempts with more than 600 products you...

Aural stimulation.(Face time and eye candy)
June 1, 2004... Each of the three discs in the Femmes de Paris series--candied compilations of '60s pop tunes from forgettable French chanteuses--could work as a flirtatious accompaniment to summer cocktails and frothy repartee. The first volume, however, is...

Tickled pink.(Face time and eye candy)
June 1, 2004... For the it babe who enjoys organic mango puree and dreams of sandcastles in the Hamptons, this Jackie O trench is an early summer must-have. From Toronto designer Whitney Ross's stylish collection for newborns to six-year-olds, it's machine...

Don't shoot the messenger.(Face time and eye candy)
June 1, 2004... Composing quick notes on your wallet-size wireless gizmo shouldn't require steely patience or a magnifying glass. To spare you protracted episodes of public fumbling, the Danger hiptop (a combined cellphone, Web browser and personal organizer)...

Cross the pond: the stereotype is that it's just another burnt-out American city, but it isn't anything like what you imagine. A born-and-bred native makes the case for rethinking Rochester.(Travel)
June 1, 2004... ONCE I TOOK A EUROPEAN BEAU TO MY hometown, Rochester. He stared at street after street of the city's Colonial Revival houses and mature shrubberies and shook his head. "Imagine," he said, taking my hand in sympathy for a hard lot in life,...

Calendar.(Toronto Life)(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... Get the inside scoop on this month's hottest events and promotions from the following advertisers: CINEMATHEQUE ONTARIO Join us for a summer season featuring film noir classics such as Mildred Pierce and Dark Passage, a look at sixties...

Diners' club: they eat out on their own tabs and on their own terms, in Michelin restaurants and obscure dives. They will drive miles for fish and chips and time a wedding for pear tomato season. Meet Toronto's patrons of the culinary arts.(Food)
June 1, 2004... THAT NIGHT, IT WAS THE TEXTURES THAT blew me away. First the firm, pliant fillet of eel, cured with saffron and bathed in smoked oil. The chef had placed it upon a truffle-scented jumble of fresh peas, fava beans, sliced new potatoes and the...

Tasting notes.(Drink)
June 1, 2004... Greens with envy New Zealand is changing the way we think about sauvignon blanc, and the way we pair food and wine. Of particular interest to sommeliers, these snappy whites flout the French convention that salads and green vegetables don't...

A la mode.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Canoe **** Location puts it at the top of the city. On the 54th floor of the TD Tower, the views reach Niagara and Hamilton, and the weather subtly affects the mood of the elegant, modern room as deftly as a movie soundtrack. Staying near...

Marc Thuet and The Fifth parted company--in the middle of Saturday night service on March 20.(Tidbits)
June 1, 2004... Marc Thuet and The Fifth parted company--in the middle of Saturday night service on March 20. The reasons behind his abrupt dismissal are still unclear, with matters now in the lawyers' hands. Sous-chef Jason Inniss valiantly held the fort for...

Tony De Luca, chef at Hillebrand Estates Winery Restaurant, has added another string to his bow.(Tidbits)
June 1, 2004... Tony De Luca, chef at Hillebrand Estates Winery Restaurant, has added another string to his bow. With his wife, Kaleen, as partner, he is opening a specialty cheese store on Highway 55, just outside Niagara-on-the-Lake. De Luca's Cheese Market...

Yet another Avalon alumnus has joined the team at Perigee, in the Distillery District: pastry chef Chris Goodfellow moved there from Eau in March.(Tidbits)
June 1, 2004... Yet another Avalon alumnus has joined the team at Perigee, in the Distillery District: pastry chef Chris Goodfellow moved there from Eau in March. The Distillery is also the venue for North America's first ever interactive Drinks Show, a...

A beanfest of another kind brought industry insiders to Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar in February--a cassoulet cooking contest sponsored by Malivoire Winery.(Tidbits)
June 1, 2004... A beanfest of another kind brought industry insiders to Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar in February--a cassoulet cooking contest sponsored by Malivoire Winery. Sixteen chefs took part, each one introducing his or her own variation of the dish under the...

Il Mulino, the excellent Italian restaurant on Eglinton Avenue West, held a touchingly nostalgic evening in March in honour of Louis Jannetta, "the king of the maitre d's.".(Tidbits)
June 1, 2004... Il Mulino, the excellent Italian restaurant on Eglinton Avenue West, held a touchingly nostalgic evening in March in honour of Louis Jannetta, "the king of the maitre d's." Jannetta ran the Royal York Hotel's Imperial Room for decades, catering...

Bistro.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Le Select ** 1/2 The term "bistro" is so haphazardly bandied about these days. Finding a true example is refreshing. Casual in a modestly classy way, the food and atmosphere--from the zinc bar's dull sheen to the suburbia-reminiscent,...

Shopping with chefs.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Claudio Aprile of Senses, SoHo Metropolitan Hotel, 328 Wellington St. W., 416-935-0400 Practised technique, refined flavours and an almost obsessive commitment to ingredients are hallmarks of Japanese cuisine--and of Claudio Aprile's...

Chinese.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Happy Seven ** Those not dressed for cumins with Forest Hill neighbours at Lee Garden may prefer to cross the street fur an anonymous meal at this Spadina institution, open seven days a week until 5 a.m. Not much changes here--not the...

French.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Jacques Bistro du Parc ** 1/2 Quietly going about its business for 26 years now, this cozy, second-floor Yorkville slice of Paris' Rive Gauche spotlights husband-and-wife team Jacques and Martine Sorin, chef and maitre d'. The 32-seat room...

Coffee beans.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... The brew of spiritual ferment, coffee was first consumed in the Arab world, where it was prescribed by physicians and used as an auxiliary to religious ceremonies. But to the dismay of Muslim clerics, the drink soon began to filter into coffee...

Hotel.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Benihana ** 1/2 Call it Japanese for beginners. Benihana offers a hint of the exotic for visitors. In a lovely, sprawling room with teppanyaki tables, the food is cooked before your eyes on flat-top grills. This is a fun way to eat, not...

Italian.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Assaggi ** Yellow table linens are matched in Mediterranean warmth--here a blue wall, there yellow, the dominant hue a rich red somewhere between cherry and terra cotta. A tall glass wine rack divides front from back, reminding patrons of...

Korean.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Korea House ** 1/2 It's not a complete surprise that Korean food has been overlooked in the recent local vogue for all eats Asian. Its signature dish, kimchee, (a.k.a. spicy cabbage fermented in buried clay pots) suggests why: the...

Mediterranean.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... $25 Musa Mixing Old World flavour with shabby-chic decor, Musa embodies the new Dundas West: think mismatched chairs at wood tables, relaxed service and southern Europe's comfort food. Mussels (86.95) bathed in lemon and coriander are tart...

Mexican.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... $25 Margarita's Smaller and cozier than its Carlton Street counterpart, the softly lit Baldwin branch decor comes direct from at studio set design. Blood-red walls are festooned with sombreros, ponchos and a huge plastic Corona bottle...

Midday.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Osgoode Hall *** In the grand entrance, 1850s architectural details sit cheek-by-jowl with the accoutrements of our brave new world: metal detectors and X-ray machines. Time must be allowed for both before ascending the staircase to the...

Other Asian.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... $25 China Grill This turquoise-bathed bistro caters to a pan-Asian palate, name notwithstanding, blending the flavours of Cantonese, Szechuan, Thai and Japanese cuisine. Nestled amid North York strip malls, serenity reigns (aided by a...

Portuguese.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Cataplana ** If you ignore the Kenny G-style saxophone music, you could almost fancy yourself vacationing by the Algarve's cliffs. Well, OK, not entirely. But with its red-brick exterior and coppery colour scheme (everything, right down to...

Southeast Asian.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Indochine ** 1/2 It's one of those seductive, minimalist spots in the Asian vein: warmth in the midst of calm simplicity. Well-spiced food, plus that sense of tranquillity--a few paces from Yonge and Bloor--draws a steady stream of...

Steak.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Tom Jones ** You want old-school steakhouse? Tom Jones wrote the book on it. Dark wood, dim lighting, deep banquettes, heavy tablecloths, sconces and even worn, monogrammed china make this corner house a relic. Here, diners and tuxedoed...

Out of town.(Restaurants)
June 1, 2004... Enver's *** Easy to miss on the drive to Guelph, Morriston is worth a stop. Somebody had the wisdom to leave this 19th-century, main street storefront intact (think of Road to Avonlea's general store). Comfortably dressed regulars, perhaps...

The urban hardwood forest.(The End)
June 1, 2004... At Weston Road and Steeles, ground zero for Toronto's Asian long-horned beetle infestation, the only deciduous trees left standing are a few cherries and ornamental crabapples. Anoplophora glabripennis, with its distinctive black and white...

Alteriors.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Credit Wendie Cohen's original Danforth location, which opened in 1996, for pinning down the Riverdale look. You know the gist: softly textured overstuffed settees; drapery panels in earthy linens and raw silks; decorative elements shipped from...

Art Shoppe.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... An establishment geared to clientele of a certain age--and financial wherewithal. Young couples are welcome, too, as--surprise--they can actually afford to buy a sofa here (lower-priced casual contemporary pieces are on the ground floor). Small...

Babcock Zanner.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... French country meets white-washed Maine beach cabin at interior designer Gary Zanner's dulcet tune of a Victorian. The space is stocked with a few key furniture pieces--Bar Harbour is a wicker sofa with striped fabric in shades of wheat, grass...

Barrymore Furniture.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... If the boarded-up windows and overgrown ivy don't discourage you from taking a peek inside this creaky warehouse, then you're in for a treat on the second floor, which is crammed with sofas, sofas and more sofas. Barrymore has been making them...

Biltmore Domicile.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... The zaftig sofas sit in comfortable defiance of the fashion politburo's pronouncement that shabby chic's day has passed. This Montreal company has stuck to what it knows best, carving out a niche as the destination for the lushest, plushest...

DeBoer's.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Since its first Toronto store opened in 1950, DeBoer's has delivered more china cabinets and kids' bedroom sets to suburban subdivisions than a downtown lofter would care to imagine. Lately, the company has been trying hard to suit citified...

Dexterity.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Anna Pinchak's shop is a happy marriage of handcrafted furniture from faraway lands and the contemporary. Here, a rubber wood dining table from Malaysia (bargain priced at $499) is paired with Ultrasuede Parsons chairs ($130 each). Clean-lined...

Du Verre.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... This jewel box, located in the sightlines of Trinity-Bellwoods Park, is marked by unobtrusive chrome lettering and a window display so exotic you can almost smell the kaffir lime from the street. Proprietors Gavin McLean and Gina Lubin display...

Elan.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Regulars will have noticed the increased elbow room and much-expanded furniture selection, improvements made possible when an underused back room was converted to a sales floor, doubling the size of the shop. New owner Jarrad Meshwork took the...

Elle Maison.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Unlike neighbouring sliver-thin stores on King East, Eleanor Jungkind's shop has a prime corner location as airy as it is bright. Pop in on the weekend, and see hand-in-hand newlyweds mulling over an elegant selection of casual and clean-lined...

Elte.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Occupying 225,000 square feet of polished warehouse space, the two buildings are parcelled into six departments devoted to luxury objects and heirlooms-to-be. Front doors open to a foyer suspended with dewdrop chandeliers (charming in crystal...

En Provence NordSud.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... The first stop in the city for anything French or toile is this house on Hazelton, familiar to upscale Yorkville gadflies (owners Jeffrey Murtagh and Mary Geatros have operated it for 15 years). Three floors show orderly arrangements of fabric...

Expressions.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Equipped with a bridal registry, this year-old enterprise is something of a miniature William Ashley incorporated into a junior Elte, bulk without the sprawling crystal or carpet range--or; frankly, the impeccable showroom style. But what it...

Greentea Design.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Specializing in Japanese and Korean furniture, this airy retail loft is a Zen ode to beautifully worn woods, iron detailing and clean and simple designs. The store features a varied selection of antique, reproduction and Greentea's own...

Harvest House.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... This family owned Canadian manufacturer and retailer specializes in reproductions of solid wood country fare and Arts and Crafts designs made famous by Stickley and Mackintosh in the early 1900s. Hefty, heirloom quality pieces--like bow-fronted...

Hollace Cluny.(Traditional)
June 1, 2004... Susan Fowlie's urbane light box of a store has loosened its interpretation of design over the past seven years to sell more than just furnishings. A dozen pretty greeting cards sit by the door; costume jewellery of that desirably chunky beading...